Surgical instrument

ABSTRACT

A surgical instrument including a flexible track operatively connected to a handle and adapted to be extended therefrom into a knee cavity to conform to the interior configuration of the knee cavity, and a blade slidably mounted on the track and constrained to move thereon for cutting damaged or broken cartilage from the knee cavity.

States atent [191 Roberts et a1.

[ Sept. 17, 1974 SURGICAL INSTRUMENT Inventors: Robert R. Roberts, Rt.No. 1, Frederick, Md. 21701; Leo J. DiGioia, 18916 Diary Rd.,Gaithersburg, Md. 20760 Filed: Feb. 22, 1973 Appl. No.: 334,726

US. Cl. 128/305, 30/289 Int. Cl A6lb 17/32 Field of Search 128/305, 309,2 B, 307,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Storz 128/309 3,328,876 7/1967Hoppe 128/305 X 3,484,940 12/1969 Zell, Jr 128/305 X 3,665,924 5/1972Noiles ct al 128/305 Primary Examiner-Lucie H. Laudenslager Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Brady, OBoyle & Gates [57] ABSTRACT A surgical instrumentincluding a flexible track operatively connected to a handle and adaptedto be extended therefrom into a knee cavity to conform to the interiorconfiguration of the knee cavity, and a blade slidably mounted on thetrack and constrained to move thereon for cutting damaged or brokencartilage from the knee cavity.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENIEUSEPIYIQH mamas SHEET 1 BF 2 SURGICALINSTRUMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various surgical instruments havebeen provided for cutting damaged cartilage from the human anatomy.These instruments usually consist of knife members designed for use onthe particular portion of the anatomy from which the damaged cartilageis to be removed. While most of these instruments have been satisfactoryfor their intended purpose, a suitable instrument has not been providedfor cutting damaged cartilage from a knee cavity.

After considerable research and experimentation, the surgical instrumentof the present invention has been devised for cutting damaged cartilagefrom a knee cavity and comprises, essentially, a handle portion havingan extensible track and cutting blade operatively connected thereto, thetrack is flexible to conform to the interior configuration of the kneecavity and the cutting blade is constrained to travel on the trackwhereby the damaged cartilage is cut from the knee cavity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thesurgical instrument of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational end view of the instrument;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the instrument; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the instrument.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 4, thesurgical instrument of the present invention comprises, a housing 1having longitudinally extending channeled recesses 2 and 3 formed in theside walls thereof. Each recess forms a track in which a respectiveslide member 4 and 5 is mounted for reciprocatory movement therein, tobe described more fully hereinafter.

A longitudinally extending rod 6 is secured to the front wall la of thehousing and provides an extension thereof, the free end of the rodsupporting a pair of laterally spaced post members 7 and 8interconnected by a transversely extending arm 9.

A pair of parallel, vertically spaced flexible wires 10 and 11 extendthrough and are slidably mounted in post 8, one end of each wire beingsecured within post 7 as at 12, the opposite end of the wires beingsecured to slide member 5.

The construction and arrangement of the flexible wires form a track loopupon which a cutting blade 13 is slidably mounted, the blade beingsupported on the wires 10 and 11 by a blade holder 14 through whichthewires extend. One end of a flexible band 15 is connected to the bladeholder 14 and the opposite end of the band is connected to the slidemember 4.

To complete the description of the surgical instrument, each slidemember 4 and 5 is provided with a respective handle 16 and 17 adapted tobe manually moved in the direction of the arrows as shown in FIG. I, tothereby cause the reciprocatory movement of the respective slide member.Additional handle members 18 of the conventional finger-hole type areprovided on the end portion of the housing to facilitate themanipulation of the instrument by the surgeon.

In the use of the surgical instrument for removing cartilage from a kneecavity, the surgeon extends the flexible wires 10 and 11 into the kneecavity by pushing handle 17 and its associated slide 5 forwardly. Theflexibility of the wires allows them to conform to the interiorconfiguration of the cavity. While the wires 10 and 11 are maintained inthe extended position, the handle 16 and associated slide 4 are pushedforwardly causing the blade holder 14 and blade 13 to slide on thewires, whereby damaged or broken cartilage is cut from the knee cavity.After the cartilage has been cut, the blade 13 isfirst retracted bymoving the handle 16 in the opposite direction, and then the handle 17is moved rearwardly to retract the wires 10 and 11 from the knee cavity.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scopeof the subjoined claims We claim:

1. A surgical instrument for cutting cartilage from a cavity,comprising, a housing, wire means mounted on said housing, meansoperatively connected between said housing and said wire means forextending said wire means from said housing into said cavity, said wiremeans being adapted to conform to the interior of the cavity into whichit is inserted, knife means slidably mounted on said wire means, andmeans operatively connected between said housing and said knife meansfor sliding said knife means on said wire means.

2. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein the wire meanscomprises a pair of parallel, vertically spaced, flexible wires.

3. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein the means forextending the track means comprises, a member slidably mounted on saidhousing, one end of said wire means being connected to said slidemember.

4. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein the means forsliding the knife means on the wire means comprises, a slide memberslidably mounted on said housing, and a band member having one endconnected to said slide member and the opposite end connected to saidknife means.

5. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein the knife meanscomprises a holder slidably mounted on said wire means, and a cuttingblade mounted on said holder.

6. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein extension meansare connected to one end of said housing, said wire means having one endconnected to said extension means, said wire means being bent back uponitself, the reversely bent portion thereof extending through saidextension means and into said housing to thereby form a looped track.

7. A surgical instrument according to claim 6 wherein said extensionmeans comprises a rod extending longitudinally of the housing andconnected to one end wall thereof, and a pair of laterally spaced postmembers connected to the free end of said rod, said one end of said wiremeans being connected to one of said post members, the reversely bentportion of said wire means slidably mounted through the other postmember.

wherein a longitudinally extending channeled recess is formed in thehousing, said slide member being mounted in said recess, and a handleconnected to said slide member to facilitate the manual sliding of saidslide member in said recess.

1. A surgical instrument for cutting cartilage from a cavity,comprising, a housing, wire means mounted on said housing, meansoperatively connected between said housing and said wire means forextending said wire means from said housing into said cavity, said wiremeans being adapted to conform to the interior of the cavity into whichit is inserted, knife means slidably mounted on said wire means, andmeans operatively connected between said housing and said knife meansfor sliding said knife means on said wire means.
 2. A surgicalinstrument according to claim 1 wherein the wire means comprises a pairof parallel, vertically spaced, flexible wires.
 3. A surgical instrumentaccording to claim 1 wherein the means for extending the track meanscomprises, a member slidably mounted on said housing, one end of saidwire means being connected to said slide member.
 4. A surgicalinstrument according to claim 1 wherein the means for sliding the knifemeans on the wire means comprises, a slide member slidably mounted onsaid housing, and a band member having one end connected to said slidemember and the opposite end connected to said knife means.
 5. A surgicalinstrument according to claim 1 wherein the knife means comprises aholder slidably mounted on said wire means, and a cutting blade mountedon said holder.
 6. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 whereinextension means are connected to one end of said housing, said wiremeans having one end connected to said extension means, said wire meansbeing bent back upon itself, the reversely bent portion thereofextending through said extension means and into said housing to therebyform a looped track.
 7. A surgical instrument according to claim 6wherein said extension means comprises a rod extending longitudinally ofthe housing and connected to one end wall thereof, and a pair oflaterally spaced post members connected to the free end of said rod,said one end of said wire means being connected to one of said postmembers, the reversely bent portion of said wire means slidably mountedthrough the other post member.
 8. A surgical instrument according toclaim 3, wherein a longitudinally extending channeled recess is formedin the housing, said member being slidably mounted in said recess, and ahandle connected to said member to facilitate the manual sliding of saidmember in said recess.
 9. A surgical instrument according to claim 4,wherein a longitudinally extending channeled recess is formed in thehousing, said slide member being mounted in said recess, and a handleconnected to said slide member to facilitate the manual sliding of saidslide member in said recess.